SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY - MCCARTNEY TO KEEP 'ILLEGAL' CABIN

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY has been allowed to keep a wildlife-watching pavilion in the grounds of his East Sussex home, despite flouting strict planning permission laws. Officials on England's Rother District Council yesterday (18JAN06) gave their retrospective consent for the $1.9 million (GBP1 million) hut, which was built by the former BEATLE three years ago in the grounds of his 933-acre Peasmarsh estate and was often used as a hideaway by estranged wife HEATHER MILLS. MCCartney offered to remove the cabin - set on stone piers and featuring an outdoor observation deck - but councillors in Rother were keen to save the building, which officials have now deemed as "an acceptable design within the area of natural outstanding beauty". Woodlands Farm, where MCCartney built the cabin, has been his family home for more than 25 years.